


Set Me Free

by kpopismydrug



Series: Their Beautiful Lies [2]
Category: So Nyuh Shi Dae | Girls' Generation, Super Junior, f(x)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 01:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpopismydrug/pseuds/kpopismydrug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In their world that is full of rules and traditions, Jessica is forced to live a life much stricter than the one of the vampire world. Born with a curse that has removed her parents love for her, causing them to fear her, this is her story of isolation. </p><p>But something changes in her life, something that she thought would be always denied from her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Set Me Free

**Author's Note:**

> Jesssica's Story.

 

 

 

A male’s raucous laugh boomed, startling Jessica from her thoughts. The male’s laugh continued, but the reason for his reaction was lost to her, for she was unable to hear from the study room she was in.

 

The male’s laughter eventually died off, allowing the gentle fluidity of the piano that was playing in the grand hall to take ownership again.

 

Jessica’s grip on the book she was reading slackened from its tight grip, her surprise seeping away as the piano began soothing her with its soft notes.

 

She stared down at the book she had been reading and sighed whilst moving from her comfortable chair to return the book back to its rightful place.

 

The male’s voice had ruined her work of focusing away from the party that was currently in motion; a party that she was forbidden from attending.

 

Just like previous ones, Jessica arrived with her parents, smiled, and paid respect to the host. Then her parents would offer an excuse that meant she could leave or be dismissed from the social gathering. Except this time, she didn’t return to the car that had brought them here, she was herded to this room by the hostess – under reassurance that it would drown out the noise so that it wouldn’t affect her ‘headache’, and that when she felt better, she could come and join everyone else.

 

Only she wouldn’t join everyone else. Her parents forbade it.

 

Jessica was stuck in this room until either the party was finished, or her parents were ready to leave.

 

Being in a room with no one to keep her company only brought out Jessica’s thoughts regarding to why she was in this position.

 

Jessica wasn’t a bad girl. She wasn’t rebellious, and she always spoke respectively to people. She wasn’t being treated like this by her parents simply because she was a troublesome teenager – because she’s not – she was treated liked this because of _what_ she is.

 

Jessica is a vampire.

 

It’s not because of this that her parents fear her, for they are vampires too, but because of what she was born with.

 

Every vampire who is born from a strong bloodline will inherit some sort of ability or enhancement. The level of how great and powerful your ability or enhancement relies on your bloodline.

 

Jessica is related to the purest bloodline in the vampire world, which means this is the most powerful, and because of this, expectations were high for Jessica, so when she was born, the whole family were eager to know of her power.

 

They waited, and waited, but still no sign of Jessica’s power was shown. The only thing that showed that was different about her was her hunger that never seemed to be sated for long.

 

But it wasn’t food she was always hungry for, it was blood. This led to her parents keeping her sheltered as a baby, only allowing few members to see or interact with Jessica.

 

The reason for their paranoia and fear was due to the threat of bloodlust that comes when a vampire is starved of the vital blood that keeps them alive. Since Jessica was always hungry for blood, her parents were overcautious as to not let their daughter experience bloodlust at such a young age.

 

But as Jessica grew, their overcautious actions became nothing but a burden and a harsh reminder to Jessica at how dangerous and wrong her hunger is.

 

Swallowing past the tightness in her throat that was brought on by the ever present hurt and loathing she felt towards her parents fear, Jessica walked silently back to her chair empty handed.

 

The mansion she was in was completely modern, despite the aged, grey stone exterior appearance. It contrasted to Jessica’s home that had an outside appearance of a British manor house, which was also reflected into the house.

 

The house had been in her family’s bloodline for centuries, and from what she was told as a child by her grandfather who ruled their family, the house has seen a lot of conflict with neighbouring families.

 

She come to realise as she grew that her bloodline went through a period of time when other bloodline’s tried to kill her grandfather, for he has the highest position in the vampire community due to his age, and this resulted in a lot of killing to be done in her own front yard.

 

Needless to say, Jessica avoided being in the lavish grounds of her home when she learned of this.

 

She stared around the tidy and organised study that was completely opposite of the study in her own home - which was never used and full of her grandfather’s books that he has collected throughout his lifetime.

 

She preferred this place. It felt like she could breathe without something smothering her.

 

The sound of the door handle turning had Jessica standing to her feet, her posture rigid with wariness and caution that developed over time due to living with her parents.

 

Upon seeing who entered her area of isolation, Jessica’s posture relaxed as the door clicked back home.

 

“I didn’t know you were coming.” She greeted the male who was giving the room a quick curious once over before his brown eyes landed onto her.

 

“I knew you were coming,” he simply answered as he began to approach her, and Jessica’s greeting smile fell.

 

“Donghae,” she sighed as she sat back down. “You can’t keep doing this,” she scolded the male.

 

Donghae gave her a defiant look as he sat across from her; the chair looked as if it was shielding him almost due to how it was structured, just like he’s constantly shielding her from her parents’ overcautious ways.

 

“I’ll continue to do this until the day that your parents finally realise that you aren’t a threat.” His vow matched the strength in his gaze as he reached over to grasp her hands that lay limp on her lap.

 

His vow touched her heart, but it also caused it to feel heavy.

 

Donghae is her cousin. Only a year separates them, so they’re fairly close. She sees him more as a brother than another cousin in their large family, and he sees her as another sister.

 

Though, he often forgets that she is the older one when his protective streak is awakened.

 

Ever since she can remember, Donghae has always been by her side. She doesn’t remember when he was born since she was very young, but she has heard from her aunt and mother that she’d been excited to see him, since his parents lived in the family home at the time – as it’s the tradition for females to give birth in the bloodline’s ancestral home.

 

It was a tradition that most bloodlines have now dropped, except from those like their own bloodline.

 

From the tales that her aunt and mother have shared with her, because they were born just a year apart, they often allowed them to play together when Donghae was physically able to, with her mother watching Jessica’s every movement and keeping her hunger down as she and Donghae began to bond through their play dates.

 

When Donghae’s sister was born a year later, they waited eagerly for Amber to grow and play with them too.

 

It was when Donghae was six; Jessica seven, that news of him and Amber moving away shocked them, and removed them from her side.

 

By this time, Donghae was always observant when it came to her and the way her parents treated her. He was the one who would openly question why Jessica was homeschooled while he and Amber went to the school for vampire children during the night, or why she wasn’t allowed to make friends with his, or be alone with Amber.

 

So the news of his parents wanting to suddenly move had him demanding to know why, and if it was related to Jessica, in which they found out she was the reason.

 

At six years old, Donghae fought with her parents about how unfair they treated her when she has yet to do anything bad. Jessica didn’t do or say anything, she was just hurt.

 

Her favourite aunt was moving them away because of her, taking away her first friend and companion since her other cousins refused to be around her.

 

Amber cried, which pained Jessica to see the little girl crying to stay whilst her mother simply carried her away from the scene. Donghae was harder to move. For the first time in their lives, they all saw Donghae’s power come forward. His father had been trying to lead him from the foyer of their shared home, but Donghae dug his heels in and fought to escape.

 

As his father’s tugs got more annoyed and frustrated, causing him to be rougher with Donghae, Donghae screamed in anger, tightly grabbed his father’s hold on his arm, and the male just froze.

 

Jessica remembers being confused as she watched from the landing, her mother’s hands firmly holding her shoulders to keep her from running down and causing further chaos.

 

She remembers Donghae’s face being terrified as he anxiously called for his father to move, only for the male to stay the same.

 

Her father eased Donghae away, and reassured him as he hurried her cousin outside, while Jessica ignored her mother’s pulling so that she could stay and watch her grandfather who had simply taken a hold his son.

 

A few quiet seconds pass, and then her grandfather caught his son when Donghae’s father unfroze and stumbled from the way that he had been standing.

 

Jessica was whisked away as she heard Donghae’s father proudly say, “He’s going to be powerful, father. He’s going to be just like you.”

 

But the following months after her cousins’ departure, her parents’ fears came true.

 

That incident cemented her isolated life in stone, even her cousins were refused access to see her; they were only allowed to speak with Jessica for short periods of time on the phone.

 

As Jessica approached her teenage years and began to attend the parties that her parents were invited to, it was only then that Jessica began to see her cousins again.

 

The Donghae she sees in front of her now is a boy who has a lot of anger towards her parents and their bloodline. The bloodline which graced him and Amber with strong powers that continued to grow as they did, and yet gave Jessica a horrid curse to live with that didn’t improve or deteriorate as she aged.

 

“Where is Amber?” she asks, deciding to move away from the topic of Donghae going against her parents actions of keeping her alone. She knew that if she couldn’t convince him when he was nine to stop helping and protecting her, she wasn’t going to do it now when he was thirteen.

 

Donghae ran a finger over her nails that were cut as short as they would go, and quirked an eyebrow in question at the disappearance of her once long, elegant nails.

 

“Amber is being her usual tomboy self and refuses to dance with the boys that my mother keeps escorting her way.” Donghae smiled smugly as he said it, and Jessica’s own lips turned upward into a smile.

 

“She’s still trying to make Amber be someone who she isn’t?” Jessica asked, and Donghae nodded as he brought his eyes up to look at her instead of her hands.

 

“Where?” he asked softly, and the question confused Jessica, until his hand tapped her hands pointedly.

 

Tension gripped her spine, and she tried to keep her breathing even as Donghae brought their hands up so that he could see the faint markings of someone’s hand around her left wrist.

 

“Don’t push me out, Jessie.” Donghae whispered as his concerned eyes saw her denial about to come from her lips.

 

Seeing her cousin looking at her the way he was had her barriers breaking down.

 

Wordlessly, she unhooked their hands and removed the black silk that was draped over her pale shoulders. Moving her long, light brown hair over to her left shoulder, Jessica turned slightly in her seat so that Donghae could see her bare right shoulder.

 

Jessica was also sworn to never take off her shawl so that no one could see the marks on her shoulder that weren’t able to be covered by make-up, or by her black party dress since it had thin straps.

 

Another rule she’s breaking because of her cousin.

 

She knew it was coming, but she still jerked when Donghae’s soft, warm fingers ran gently over the deep little scratches that were still in the process of healing.

 

Jessica’s left hand clutched tightly into a fist as the stroke of Donghae’s finger reminded her of the pain she gave herself as her nails repeatedly scratched and dug into her skin.

 

“You told me the nightmares had stopped.” Donghae whispered from behind her.

 

He was speaking of the nightmares that plague her because of the actions of her curse.

 

“They did.” She sighed as Donghae’s fingers left her, and he placed her shawl back over her shoulders. “But it still doesn’t stop the feeling of fear, horror, and shame from eating away at me.” She added softly as she turned to face him again, her eyes down casted.

 

“If only they would stop keeping you locked up.” Donghae violently hissed through his teeth, and it was Jessica’s turn to grasp his own clenched fists, her eyes pleading for Donghae to calm down.

 

“We both know it’s for the best,” she gently told him. Her mind was already supplying the proof of why her parents keep her isolated from their family and the world.

 

Who would let a monster like her out into the public?

 

Hands gripped her cheeks painfully, and Jessica gasped at the sudden touch of her cousin holding her face.

 

His eyes were red; his anger had hit the level of awakening your vampire instincts that lay waiting to arise. It was rare for Donghae to show this side to her, knowing that she hates violence and aggression, but she knew he was unable to stop his anger and need to protect her from rising to that level.

 

“Don’t start believing the words that your parents carelessly throw around.” Donghae’s words were laced with his power, forcing her to keep eye contact with her, and even if she wanted too, Jessica was unable to remove her eyes from his.

 

Donghae’s father had been right all those years ago about his son’s power.

 

“That’s a little hard to do when you’ve done nothing but hear those words all your life.” Jessica muttered, and Donghae’s hand tightened in response to her dejected words.

 

“Then it’s time for that to change.” Jessica frowned in confusion at Donghae’s firm words, but before she could question what he had planned, the door to the study began to open.

 

A girl who looked to be the same age as Jessica began to slip in - her own party dress was a light pink and it moved elegantly with the girl’s movements - but paused when she saw Jessica and Donghae.

 

Her cheeks grew red, and she diverted her eyes as she cleared her throat slightly.

 

“I’ll come back later,” the female hurriedly began and she started to backtrack out of the room.

 

But Donghae’s amused chuckle had her pausing again. Jessica stared back at her cousin, who currently had a wicked expression brightening his features, and felt the suspicion come across into her eyes.

 

“Stay, Tiffany.” His hands left Jessica’s face and waved one of them for Tiffany to come into the room properly.

 

Jessica couldn’t understand why the female began to blush further as she did as Donghae asked, and shut the door once again.

 

“I don’t mean to be rude, Hae,” Tiffany sighed heavily, and Jessica’s eyebrows rose at the nickname. “But I don’t do the whole third wheel thing.”

 

A pointed look from the female vampire had Jessica’s jaw dropping.

 

She didn’t think that she and Donghae were....

 

Donghae was still sniggering to himself as he leaned back into his chair. “Then it’s a good thing that I don’t participate in incestuous relations,” he casually spoke, yet his eyes were back to brown, and they were dancing with amusement.

 

Tiffany was a bright shade of pink before, now she turned beetroot red as she stumbled over her words in embarrassment as she apologised.

 

Jessica gently slapped her cousin’s knee. “Stop teasing her,” she scolded.

 

“He always teases me,” the girl pouted in annoyance, and Jessica smiled at the way the female was sending a little glare at her shrugging cousin.

 

“You make it too easy.” Donghae simply answer with a twist of smirk to his lips.

 

Both Jessica and Tiffany saw the bait her cousin was trying to get Tiffany to bite at, and the female pointedly ignored Donghae as she bowed respectively in Jessica’s direction which had Jessica scrambling to return.

 

“So, why did you tell Amber to send me here?” Tiffany asked Donghae once she and Jessica had finished bowing and introducing themselves to each other.

 

“I just wanted to introduce you to my cousin,” Donghae told her. “She’s more like my sister than a cousin though, so it felt right for her to meet my friends.”

 

His tone caught Jessica’s attention immediately and had her carefully reading his face.

 

“Oh!” Tiffany suddenly gasped. Her eyes were now wide with understanding as she stared at Jessica. “You’re the cousin who he’s always talking about to me!” She excitedly revealed, and Jessica’s cheeks burned in embarrassment as she tried to think of a response to that.

 

As Donghae moved from his seat and motioned for Tiffany to take his spot, Jessica found herself being assault with enthusiastic rambling from the girl.

 

“I’m fourteen, so we’re the same age, right?” Tiffany clarified, and Jessica nodded slowly, her head still stunned from the amount of babbling the girl had been doing.

 

“Brilliant!” Tiffany’s excitement was baffling Jessica, and as she looked to her cousin for help, she found that he had disappeared from the room.

 

“I’m sorry if I’m being overdramatic, but I don’t get a lot of chances to speak to girls of my own age.” Tiffany explained. Her voice was a lot calmer now as Jessica fought the growing panic that was building inside her.

 

But Tiffany’s words stopped her panic from growing as Jessica stared at her.

 

“Why?” Jessica asked curiously.

 

Tiffany’s shoulders shrugged lightly. “There aren’t many girls in my bloodline.” She explained. “They’re either much older than me or younger. I have a sister who is only a year younger than me, but it’s not really the same as being around someone my own age.”

 

“It doesn’t help that when I do meet girls our age, they brush me off.” Tiffany smiled sadly, and Jessica watched as her eyes reflected it at her too.

 

“Why do they do that?” Jessica felt like she being useless with asking these questions, but it didn’t seem to mind Tiffany as she answered her.

 

“Because I don’t possess a power that can be shown when they want to compare and judge.” Tiffany’s eyes were no longer sad; they looked disgusted as she almost spat the words.

 

Jessica couldn’t help but feel the same as she imagined these interactions.

 

Everything in their world relies on being the most powerful or being the most intimidating. Everything that Jessica hates about living in their world.

 

Also, it didn’t help with the males being treated in a higher position than the females, because in the vampire world, female vampires were weaker and less of use.

 

Tiffany carried on without seeing the way that Jessica was currently clenching her hands.

 

“That’s why when I met Donghae and we shared our stories, he mentioned you to me.” Tiffany’s words had lost their edge from before, and shyness was replaced in its spot.

 

Fear was crawling around her stomach now, making her feel sick as Tiffany held her gaze.

 

“What has he told you about me?” Jessica whispered. Her palms felt damp from how hot she was suddenly feeling as she waited for Tiffany’s answer.

 

“That you experience isolation on a daily basis because of something that you were born with.” She was expecting something like this, but Tiffany’s words still hit her hard, gripping her lungs tightly. “That people don’t see you. They just look at your hunger and become scared without knowing the girl who suffers from it.”

 

Jessica could feel her hands shaking as her chest tightened with every echo of Tiffany’s words inside her mind.

 

 _“If only they would stop keeping you locked up.”_ Donghae’s earlier words came back to her as Tiffany reached out and grabbed a hold of her shaking hands.

“I think it’s time for that to change.” Tiffany whispered, almost in-tune with what her cousin had told her before Tiffany’s arrival.

 

Something fell onto her cheek, and Jessica jolted in surprise as she realised her vision was blurring with tears.

 

Tiffany’s hand rose to wipe the tear of her cheek carefully, and Jessica latched onto the hand, holding it to her cheek.

 

It was silly that this little gesture was enough to have her mind scream for it not to leave her, but apart from Donghae and Amber, no one else bothered to touch her.

 

“I don’t want pity,” Jessica whispered as she held Tiffany’s hand. “I’m sick of seeing it.”

 

“I’m not doing this out of pity, Jessica.” Tiffany told her firmly. “I’m doing this because I want to. I want to get to know you, learn about you, and befriend you.”

 

The door the study burst open, revealing her parents, but Tiffany didn’t move. She remained holding Jessica’s face even as Jessica stared pleadingly at her parents, whose faces looked distressed.

 

“Tiffany,” Jessica’s mother softly called the girl’s name, but Tiffany didn’t look at her.

 

She continued to watch Jessica, turning her face away from her parents before her hand dropped down to clutch Jessica’s hands in reassurance.

 

Jessica felt like crying at the action.

 

She had someone who was willing to stand beside her, and she wasn’t going to move anytime soon, judging by the determination in Tiffany’s eyes.

 

“Jessica isn’t well and she needs her space.” Her mother continued. Her tone was a little bit fretful as Tiffany still ignored her.

 

“I’m not going,” Tiffany told Jessica firmly, and Jessica saw out the corner of her eye, her mother grasping her father’s arm urgently.

 

“I’m afraid we are,” her father spoke, and Jessica’s head whipped to see her father come towards her slowly.

 

“Come on, Jessica. It’s time to go home.” Her father ordered, and Jessica’s body locked at his words, at his tone.

 

“Can we not stay just a little longer?” Jessica asked quietly, despite already knowing the answer she’d get.

 

“Jessica, come.” Her father’s annoyance and fear was seeping into his voice, causing Jessica to react with the slumping of her shoulders in defeat.

 

Her parents will never stop fearing her, will they? Hasn’t she proven that she isn’t some uncontrollable monster that will drain people at any given time? Why can’t they let her be normal? Why can’t she just have a friend to talk to, someone to confide in? Why must she be left alone, and ordered away from people?

 

“Wouldn’t it be rude for Jessica to leave the hostess’s daughter in mid conversation?” Donghae’s voice suddenly piped up from behind her parents.

 

Her mother moved aside for Donghae to slip past them, and Jessica stared at her cousin in a mixture of relief and understanding.

 

He winked slyly at her as he handed her and Tiffany the two glasses of pink punch he had been carrying.

 

“This doesn’t concern you, Donghae.” Her father sighed in exasperation, but his tone of submitting was there, and they all heard it.

 

Donghae latched onto it like a starved animal.

 

“But I’ve been promising Tiffany to introduce her to Jessica for months, and she’s been waiting patiently to meet her, Uncle.” Donghae’s expression appeared innocent, but Jessica knew her cousin well, and saw the smugness buried as he had found a way to undermine her parents.

 

Her parents won’t be able to refuse her friendship with Tiffany now. Her father had been brokering a deal with the head of this family for months. This is why there was a party being thrown, a celebration of a successful deal. Jessica doesn’t know the full details as to why, but she did know that her grandfather had plans of expanding their allies, so she’s guessing that her father had chosen Tiffany’s bloodline as one.

 

It didn’t really surprise her about how Donghae knew of her father’s plans when he lived in a completely different area in their bloodline’s territory. She has a suspicious inkling that her cousin’s power had been used, and her parents were thinking the same thing, judging by the looks of wariness and barely concealed frustrated anger.

 

Her parents left without saying another word, and Jessica stared at the door that was slammed shut in her father’s wake.

 

Her parents have just left her alone. Not alone, she corrected herself. Her parents have unwilling allowed something that has always been denied from her.

 

Jessica glanced at the winning smiles on Tiffany and Donghae’s face, and for the first time in years, she felt free.

 

 

 

A few months into her new friendship with Tiffany, and things at home began to change.

 

Donghae and Amber were no longer banned from visiting her. They visited her almost every day once the sun had set. But it was Amber who stayed longer, since Donghae was to attend school during the night.

 

When Jessica questioned why Amber wasn’t receiving the same, the younger girl shrugged and replied that she was being homeschooled for a little while.

 

A little further digging, and Amber told her of the reason why her mother had yanked her from school.

 

The only school near their home was a mixed school catered for their kind. Her parents - namely her mother – weren’t too thrilled with having their only daughter attend a school with mixed bloodlines. Amber caught the other students’ attention due to their powerful bloodline, since low bloodlines mainly made up the school’s population, and began to target her on the days that Donghae wasn’t scheduled to be in class.

 

Amber’s only twelve, and the school she had been in when she was younger was the one Jessica’s own family run, so when the students’ began to bully Amber, she didn’t know how to react.

 

Amber told Jessica that she ignored them at first, and that she refused to acknowledge the mocking remarks to how powerful their bloodline is because they’re ‘too scared’ to marry off and contaminate their precious pure blood.

 

She ignored them up until the point they started to physically bully her.

 

Jessica had been teaching Amber how to play the piano at the time, so when she heard how her cousin had been attacked, the complaining notes that were caused by Jessica’s fists made both her and Amber wince.

 

Jessica calmly listened to Amber carefully explain that they only began with actions such as pushing her into the lockers, kicking the back of her chair during class, tripping her if she passed them.

 

But Amber became less tolerable of their bullying as it carried on, and slowly began to respond to them.

 

She only realised too late why they had specifically targeted her, and not Donghae.

 

They wanted to know her power, to see if she was a strong as her brother was made out to be. Both of them were forbidden to use their power outside of home, since they were still being trained by suitable members of their family.

 

Jessica had politely ignored the pang of longing to experience this herself and focused back onto Amber’s words.

 

Donghae had little slip ups of his power during school hours, so they knew that their family’s power or abilities revolved around being in control of something.

 

When the bullying began to step up a notch, and despite Amber’s repeated warnings to them, she decided to give them a taste of their own medicine.

 

She didn’t go into the details, but she told Jessica that the classmates that had her cornered in a classroom quickly left with just one word from one of her peers.

 

Jessica knew about Amber’s power, so she knew exactly what Amber was skipping around.

 

Amber’s power isn’t like Donghae’s, who is able to take complete control of someone without much thought or trouble – normally it would take years to practise this, so it showed just how powerful Donghae is, and he’s only thirteen.

 

Amber’s power is still being in control, but being in control of something specific.

 

Her power is being in control of pain.

 

Put her power into the situation of giving her classmates a taste of their own medicine, and you get the reason why her mother yanked her from school.

 

Needless to say, no one will bully her when she returns. Not only has she terrified her classmates, but Donghae has been punishing the main culprits whenever he has a moment that won’t rouse suspicion, so that when those pupils come to school shaken and often bruised, people won’t immediately think of him.

 

But no one is meant to know about Donghae’s actions, so Jessica and Amber leave the topic alone.

 

But when Jessica hasn’t got her cousins keeping her company, Tiffany is.

 

Over the months, Jessica has learnt that Donghae had approached Tiffany once he learnt of his uncle’s plan for their families to unite. He befriended her, and once he was sure that she was the one that could help his growing plan, he began to tell her about Jessica.

 

Just little mentions of her here and there in their conversations, and eventually Tiffany asked him who Jessica was to him. He told her, and Tiffany knew straight away that she wanted to help Jessica.

 

Jessica made a comment that it had been pity that drove to Tiffany wanting to be her friend, and again, Tiffany told her that she didn’t pity Jessica; she just wanted to be her friend since she could relate to how it felt to be pushed aside.

 

Their growing friendship also meant that Jessica become friends with Tiffany’s sister, Sunny.  But as the months went by, Tiffany’s curiosity to know more about her curse became harder and harder to brush aside.

 

Jessica wanted to stay happy for just a little while longer. She didn’t want to be reminded of what lay inside her, what she faced every night when she fed from the feeder she’s been feeding on from a young age. The gnawing sensation of not being full, of feeling irritable and snappy as her curse convinced her mind that she was starving for more blood.

 

She wanted to be selfish for just a little while longer.

 

 

 

Only, it didn’t happen.

 

 

 

Jessica was racing to her room, ignoring her mother’s confused calling of her name as the sound of the piano keys still screamed throughout their home.

 

Jessica wasn’t breathing as she passed the servant who was cleaning the corridor her room was located; she just shoved past him, wincing as she heard something crack off the wall.

 

Her mind replayed another sound similar to that as she slammed the door to her room shut and locked it with the dozen of locks she had installed over the years.

 

The sound continued to ring around her head, punching her as it became more grotesque and more real as she uselessly tried to block from hearing it with her hands.

 

She could hear her mother and other people rush up the staircase down the hallway, and Jessica forced her stiffening body to make sure every window was locked, double checking her bedroom door, before she hid in her bathroom.

 

As she slipped the golden lock on the bathroom door, somewhere in the back of her mind reminded her that nothing would stop her if she were to lose it.

 

Nothing would stop her from wrestling with locks until her fingers would bleed, ripping the doors off their hinges due to impatience or from smashing the thick black glass windows that prevent sunlight from seeping in, despite having shutters up during the day.

 

As the first wave of pain hit through her, she realised that she should’ve activated the shutters as another barrier from her escaping into the outside world.

 

As she sat huddled in her shower cubicle with her arms buried over head that was resting on her knees, Jessica fought to convince her mind that her curse was wrong. With every wave of burning pain in her stomach, she would gasp and clutch herself harder, hoping that the strength in her body would help to keep in the growing hunger that was lashing through her.

 

The pain began to recede, and Jessica’s panting began to slow as her curse allowed her to have a break from her hunger.

 

This is what she didn’t want Tiffany to see, or anyone for that matter. She didn’t want them to see the moment her insatiable hunger took its claim on her, forcing her mind to shut down so that the bloodlust could direct her body as her curse became her puppeteer.

 

Like in the past, Jessica received no warning. The only thing she got to alert her was the pain that comes with starvation from not drinking enough blood.

 

For a still maturing vampire, this can take a week or two, but for her it’s hard to have a definitive answer.

 

She had fed from packet of blood just over an hour ago; she had even fed from her feeder the night before, so she shouldn’t be starving.

 

But she was. Always is, always will be, starving for blood.

 

Jessica punched the black tiled wall in fury, causing it to crack, but felt nothing in her knuckles. She hated this. Hated what it made her become and what it made her feel.

 

But most of all, she hated the memories that her curse always awakened.

 

These memories can keep her awake for weeks after the incident, making her sick to her very core with disgust and shame. Then the nightmares were born from them, further resulting in Jessica becoming insomniac for the weeks until her mind has calmed and allowed for her to lay her accident to rest.

 

It was during these sleepless nights that Jessica would seek out her cousins company, ringing them in the early hours of dawn just to have someone who was real speaking to her, and not the voices that were plaguing her from her nightmares.

 

As the pain of her starved body began to make itself known again, Jessica prayed that maybe this time she’d might pass out due to the excruciating pain that comes with bloodlust.

 

Prayed that she’d pass out this one time before the madness and instinct could consume her, allowing her curse free reign.

 

As the burning sensation started to spread from her stomach and throughout the rest of her body, she began to feel her skin turn clammy, her eyes stinging as her vampire genes forced her senses to become more aware – sensing for prey for her to feed from.   

 

Jessica was passed the point of panicking now - knowing that she was losing it too quickly for it to stop, she was starting to taste hysteria as her gums began to ache, and her willpower to prevent her fangs from unsheathing was overrun with the need to feed.

 

Chest tight from the tension of holding her body in the same sitting position, Jessica was forced to move so that she could breathe properly. Sweat was beginning to run down her temples as she crawled out of the shower space, her muscles tensing and un-tensing as she moved slowly, keeping her head down so that all her improved vision could see was the bathroom floor.

 

Her mouth was dry; it hurt just to lick her lips. She crawled to the sink and forced her body to reach up and turn the tap on.

 

As she raised her head to take a drink from the running water, the sound of her bedroom door breaking had her head snapping to look at the bathroom door in shock.

 

Through the smells that she was accustomed to in her home, the smell that came to her was still new, despite the few months of her visiting her home.

 

As the realization that Tiffany was in her bedroom hit Jessica, her own body slammed into the bathroom door, an animalistic noise ripping from her voice box.

 

She could hear frantic voices calling Tiffany’s name, but the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut and a painful scream past her room had Jessica pausing for a second in confusion.

 

She could still sense someone in her room, Tiffany’s smell was still strong, so who had been the one to slam her door and scream?

 

“It’s a good thing that I have a high tolerance of pain, otherwise I would’ve never got your door open.” Tiffany commented as she moved around in the bedroom, her steps not too quiet, but enough for Jessica to be aware where she was going.

 

Jessica wanted to shout at her for breaking her barrier, for risking her life in coming into her bedroom, knowing that when Jessica breaks and gives into her bloodlust, the door separating them won’t stop her from attacking Tiffany.

 

Her voice wouldn’t allow her to vocalise words, just a deep snarl as her body rammed into the door as a warning, listening to the sound of Tiffany’s footsteps pausing at the abrupt noise.

 

“I think I broke your mother’s nose when I slammed the door shut.” Tiffany continued her commentary as her footsteps re-tracked their steps through her room, and she didn’t sound at all concerned about the possibility of breaking Jessica’s mother’s nose.

 

“She deserves it in a way,” Tiffany sighed. “Since I did tell her to move, but she just continued to try and yank me out of your room.”

 

Another hard shove to her door had her shoulder throbbing, but her hands were clenched around the door handle, her eyes fixated on the white door as she continued to track Tiffany’s movements.

 

Another sigh came from her friend. “You need to come out sooner or later, Jessica.” Tiffany softly told her. “You need to feed, so if you still have some control, do that now, rather than wait for the bloodlust to do it for you.”

 

But Jessica’s feeder was still recuperating from her last feed; there was no one to feed from, so why would Tiffany suggest that?

 

Understanding flooded her, and her snarl that echoed around the bathroom was out of her rising hunger and outrage.

 

She couldn’t do that to Tiffany. Tiffany has never seen her feed before. Jessica gets rough, often causing pain as she tries to control how much she drinks and to keep her never-ending hunger far from her thoughts. 

 

“If this about you hurting me-” Tiffany began, and Jessica couldn’t stop her hands from moving.

 

One second she holding the door handle, the next second the golden lock has been snapped due to the force of her pulling and yanking her bathroom door open.

 

Tiffany’s words cut off at her appearance, and Jessica’s senses honed in on the female standing opposite her.

 

Before she could blink, Jessica had Tiffany pinned to her bedroom floor.

 

Through the haze of redness that was now coating her vision, Jessica stared down at the female who lay completely still with Jessica’s hands pinning her shoulders to the carpet floor.

 

Minutes ticked by as Jessica watched Tiffany’s face for signs of fear or pain from the way she was pressing the female into the floor.

 

But Tiffany’s face showed nothing. The only emotion she showed was patience.

 

“Why aren’t you scared of me?” Jessica snapped at her. “Why aren’t you shaking and pleading with me to get off you?”

 

“Because I know that this isn’t the real you,” Tiffany explained gently. “I know that once this passes, you will turn into yourself as hatred and guilt assaults you.”

 

A hand touched Jessica’s leg, and she snarled as her nails elongated, piercing Tiffany’s purple hoodie and her delicate skin underneath it.

 

But all Tiffany did was frown at the action, showing no pain or discomfort on her face.

 

“I’m a monster, Tiffany.” Jessica shook her as she spat the words to the female, her vision turning a deeper shade of red as her hands held onto her prey tighter.

 

The smell of Tiffany’s blood hit her nose, causing her mouth to water as she felt the warm liquid pool around her fingers.

 

Before Jessica could grab a hold of Tiffany’s head, her world spun, and she grunted as the female vampire pinned her to the floor.

 

A roar sounded in her mind as her vision turned to the colour of blood. Her mouth opened to mirror the sound of hunger ravaging her mind, and got a mouth full of the very thing she had been craving for.

 

Her hands locked onto Tiffany’s wrist, preventing the female from even moving as she bit her fangs into the wound that Tiffany had made somewhere in the process of switching their positions.

 

Satisfied with the bigger wound her fangs had made, thus allowing more blood to pool onto her dry tongue, Jessica’s eyes slipped shut as she fed.

 

“You’re not a monster, Jessica.” Tiffany softly murmured as something stroked her long brown hair, not even reacting as Jessica became rougher with her hold and fangs.

 

As Jessica became lost in her feeding, she vaguely sensed a familiar presence entering her room.

 

The smell of Donghae calmed the part of her mind that still clung to sanity, knowing that he wouldn’t allow her to drain Tiffany, and with that in her mind, she succumbed to the pull of the darkness as her curse took her away from her loved ones.

 

 

 

 _“Hello?”_  the voice on the other end answered, and Jessica spoke before she lost her nerve and hung up again.

 

“When my hunger for blood drove me to killing someone for the first time, it was one of my parents’ servants.” She whispered into the phone she was cradling to her ear.

 

Tiffany’s breathing was still even, giving Jessica the confidence to carry on with telling her the female had been wishing to know for the past few months.

 

As she retold the event to her friend, Jessica was thrown into the memories of those dark moments in her life.

 

She could still hear the male servant screaming for her to stop, screaming for help as she dug her sharp nails into the male’s delicate skin and shoulder muscles as she pinned him to the floor of her bedroom.

 

Just like how she had done so with Tiffany a few weeks ago.

 

She remembers wrestling with the servant as he fought her hold, remembers the clear grotesque sound of his spine snapping as she prevented him from escaping her hold.

 

She remembers the way her mouth watered with anticipation before she sank her fangs into his neck.

 

She remembers hearing her mother’s shrill, horrified screaming.

 

“I was seven years old,” she admitted down the phone, blinking rapidly so that the tears that had formed because of her memories could trail down her cheeks.

 

This happened just a month after her cousins had left her.

 

For the next hour, Jessica shed her secrets that she had been hiding from her friend, allowing Tiffany to see the part of her that she had withheld from her until the very last moment.

 

She recalled the painful memories of seeing her victims drained and a mess from her rough usage, describing the nightmares that bring them back to haunt her, hearing their voices in her mind, fearing that part of her to come and claim her again.

 

She told Tiffany everything, and by the end, Jessica felt lighter and less burdened.

 

But the words that Tiffany spoke at the very end of their conversation, just as they were about to hang up, had Jessica crying silently.

 

“You won’t suffer alone anymore, because you have me, Donghae, Amber, and Sunny by your side now.” Tiffany promised. “We’re going to set you free, and you’re going to live the way you’re meant to be.”

 

“I hope you’re ready for the big bad world,” Tiffany teased, and Jessica’s laughter chased away her tears for good.

 

She was more than ready to leave behind the world of isolation her parents had been trying to keep her in for the majority of her life.

 

She was ready to be set free.


End file.
